Blood of a Winchester
by DaniNicole
Summary: Lily Winchester, Dean's unknown daughter, is faced with the daunting task of leaving everything she knows and loves, a mother and a beloved younger brother, to join Sam and Dean as a hunter.   An AU set just after Phantom Traveler .
1. Chapter 1

"Dude, I swear if you don't stop staring at me, I'm gonna punch you in the face." Dean muttered, not taking his eyes off the road ahead of him as he steered the Impala through the darkness. Even though he couldn't see his brother's face, he could feel his eyes on him.

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes as he gnawed on the nail of his thumb. "Doesn't it bother you? Aren't you pissed, man?" He questioned incredulously.

Dean groaned to himself as he shot Sam a look. "I'm just glad Dad's okay, okay?"

"Oh, bullshit. Dad's been missing for months, Dean. _Months_. We thought he was dead for Christ's sake!"

"_You_ thought he was dead." Dean grumbled, but Sam continued on as if he hadn't heard him.

"And then all of the sudden his voicemail changes, saying to direct anyone who needs his help to you! I mean the man doesn't even have the decency to let us...his own _sons_...know he's not rotting in a ditch somewhere!" Sam shouted furiously.

"I'm sure Dad has a reason for not calling us, Sammy." Dean responded evenly, struggling to remain faithful to his dad.

"Same song, different verse." Sam mumbled under his breath, turning his head to stare out the window, a dejected look crossing his face.

Dean couldn't stand seeing his brother upset like this, and although he himself was more than pissed, they had work to do. "Alright, so what's this case we're working on again?"

Sam remained silent, his nostrils flared as he continued to stare out the window.

"Dude."

When Sam didn't respond once again, Dean reached over and ruffled Sam's mop of brown hair. "Dean! What the hell!" He exclaimed, quickly smoothing it back into place.

"I'll shave your head when you're sleeping if you don't focus." Dean threatened, both of them knowing he would never follow through...possibly.

Sam sighed and pulled out their newest case file, flipping through a couple pages before speaking up. "New Haven, Connecticut." Dean nodded, motioning for his brother to continue. "There have been about half a dozen so called 'animal attacks' all centered around one area. In this neighborhood downtown. Uh, so far, I can't find anything connecting the vics except their deaths which all involved their hearts getting ripped out of their chests."

"So we're dealing with a werewolf?"

"That's the weird thing...the full moon isn't for another week."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Werewolves only come out when there's a full moon."

"Exactly."

"Alright, so we don't know what we're dealing with then?"

"Sounds about right." Sam sighed, closing the case file.

"Awesome." Dean muttered sarcastically. "What about a pattern? Any patterns in the deaths?"

"Nope. All occurring randomly, except for how they were killed." Sam repeated, before a thought hit him. "Hey, maybe it was just animal attacks, Dean. Maybe it's nothing supernatural at all." Sam offered, but knowing that with their luck, that probably wasn't the case.

"If only, if only." Dean said casually, tossing Sam a cheeky grin.

Sam smirked and shook his head in exasperation before yawning. "You wanna pull over for the night? We can catch a couple hours and then high tail it to Connecticut?"

"Nah." Dean shrugged, settling into the seat. "I'm good to drive for a while."

"You sure? I can stay up with you." Sam offered.

"I'm good, Sam." Dean repeated. "Besides, I'm not alone. I got an old time friend with me." He continued with a grin as he held up a thermos full of black coffee.

Dean knew deep down that the reason he hadn't been able to sleep was because his mind wouldn't stop racing. He was thankful his dad was alive, he was. But why hadn't he called? His dad always checked in with him. He's never leave his own sons wondering if he was dead or alive. Something just didn't sit right with him.

Sam snorted once before shrugging off his jacket and balling it into a makeshift pillow. He shoved it against the door before settling against the window, stretching his long legs as far as he could in front of him. Within minutes, Sam was fast asleep, the only sound coming from the roar of the Impala.

**SPN***SPN***SPN

"Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty!" Dean chimed, shaking his brother awake.

Sam snorted and jolted awake with a start. He groaned when sunlight glared into his as eyes as he squinted them, taking in their surroundings. He let out a yawn as he faced his brother. "Where are we?"

"New Haven."

Sam stared incredulously at his brother. "We're here already? Did you sleep at all?"

"Nah."

"Nah?" Sam repeated. "Come on Dean, what's with you lately? You haven't slept like at all and you barely eat. Is it because of dad?"

"No. I just wasn't tired Sam." Dean argued, watching as Sam rubbed his eyes.

"Look Dean, I know you. Better than you even know yourself. Dad's being an ass. It's not fair-"

"Sam, if you value that pretty face of yours, I'd stop talking." Dean responded lightly, slapping Sam's cheek gently.

"Dude-"

"Seriously. Drop it." Dean interrupted, all the humor gone in his voice.

Sam sighed and fought back the urge to roll his eyes. "Alright. Well do you wanna grab a motel room and sleep for an hour now that we're here?"

"Nope. Now come on, we got things to do, people to save." Dean retorted, grabbing the case file off the floor and flipping it open.

Sam sighed once again, cursing inwardly at Dean's stubbornness. "Fine. So where do we start?"

**SPN**SPN**


	2. Chapter 2

They did get a motel room but they didn't sleep. Instead they worked on the case. The names had no connection to one another, none that they could see straight off the bat anyway, but on closer inspection they noticed a teacher and her student.

"We gotta figure out who had a connection to her, so we just gotta find a class list or something." Dean said.

Sam hacked into the school files and found the class, going quickly through the list of students and then the list of people from the file.

"I think we got somethin'." Sam said.

"What?" Dean asked, leaning over Sam's shoulder to see the name of one of the girls.

"Lillian Winchester…you don't think she's like related to us or anything, do you?"

"Nah," Dean said. "Probably a common name."

Sam nodded silently and clicked on the name as a short bio appeared. The name of the girl's dad wasn't listed but her mom was named Delaney Porter, the name of one of the victims was John Porter.

Dean who had been looking over Sam's shoulder nodded silently.

"I think we've got a lead." Dean said. "Uh, why don't you go check it out?"

"You don't wanna come?" Sam asked.

"I think I am gonna get a few winks." Dean said.

"Okay." Sam said.

It took less than twenty minutes for Sam to change into a suit and grab a fake ID saying he was an FBI Agent.

Dean waited until he heard the Impala drive away to go over to the laptop. He found little information on the school website about Delaney Porter, but he was able to find a few useful things out. Like the high-school she went too and the birth date of Lily and that was enough for him. A sinking feeling grew in the pit of his stomach, as Dean lay back down on the bed.

**SPN**SPN**

Sam parked the Impala outside of the shabby house and climbed out. From the looks of it, it didn't look like the best neighborhood. Walking up the walkway to the front door Sam knocked and waited.

A girl about twelve or thirteen answered the door. She had dark black hair and intense green eyes that were very familiar looking, and beside her was a boy of about seven with the same black hair but bright blue eyes.

"Hello, my names Agent Perry is there an adult home?"

"No." The girl snapped, starting to close the door but Sam stopped her.

"I'm looking for Delaney Porter, are you sure she isn't here?" Sam asked.

"I said no, didn't I?" The girl asked. "She ain't here so go away."

"Could you tell me when she'll be back? It's very important."

"I don't know."

"Will you tell her I came by?"

"Yeah, sure." The girl said, trying to close the door again.

"Isn't today a school day?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well aren't you supposed to be school?"

The girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and again the look seemed oddly familiar to Sam.

"My little brother's sick and I have to watch him. Mom can't take off work."

"Where does your mom work?"

"The mini-mart down the street." The girl said. "Are we done now?"

"Yes, sorry for bothering you." Sam said, walking away. When he got into the Impala he glanced back and noticed a large black pitbull with one blue eye. Sam wasn't usually one to be afraid of dogs but there was something very unsettling about this one in particular.

Sam drove down the street and called Dean, who answered on the second ring. Recounting what had happened, Sam pulled into a parking place.

"Just come back to the motel, I'll handle this okay." Dean said.

"What, why? I'm right here." Sam said.

"Because Sam."

"Why?" Sam repeated.

"Just because, now get back here Sammy."

Sam waited until he got to the motel to question Dean farther, it would make things easier if he could read his facial expressions.

"What's the deal, Dean?"

"I know the girl okay? We went out in highschool."

"Went out? You mean, you slept with her?"

"Yeah, I did, so what." Dean said, climbing into the Impala.

"You think the kid is yours, don't you?" Sam said incredulously.

Dean ignored the question and instead fiddled with the radio.

"I'll be back later." Dean said, pulling away.

Sam stood there for a second wondering if indeed the girl with the green eyes was Dean's daughter. She didn't look a lot like him but she certainly acted like him. Sam continued to wonder as he walked into the motel.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean drove in complete silence, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. All of his thoughts were focused on that Lily girl. What if that girl was his daughter? The timing of the pregnancy and the girl's age all made sense...But no...There was no way he could have a daughter and never heard about her. Could he?

"Damn it!" Dean growled in frustration. He needed to find Delaney. He needed to find out the truth.

Where did Sam say she worked again? Some mini mart or something? He'd have to start there before moving forward. God, he hadn't seen Laney in over ten years. Sure, they had only dated for a few days before hooking up, but there had been something there. He'd felt a spark as soon as he'd laid eyes on her and he was positive she had felt the same way.

But, when it had come time to pack up and leave, Dean had actually felt hurt. Not that he'd have ever admitted to his broken heart, but it had hurt like hell when he thought of it. Dean felt like Delaney could have been the _one_. But he wasn't going to introduce Laney to the real world he lived in; he wasn't going to ruin her life like that. So they had said a painful, unwanted goodbye and that was the last time they'd seen each other.

The Impala came to a stop outside the only mini-mart in that part of the town. He heaved himself out of the Impala and sauntered into the store, his eyes scanning for a familiar face.

Dean's eyes landed on a girl standing with her back to him. Long, wavy, jet black hair fell just below her shoulders and swayed softly from side to side as she rearranged shelves of food. He approached the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. "Does anyone by the name of Delaney work here?" He asked, rubbing his chin as he glanced around.

"Depends. Who's asking?" The girl responded with a sigh as she turned around. As soon as Dean and the girl made eye contact, her mouth dropped open and her icy blue eyes widened. She knew who this was the moment she turned around. "Dean." She breathed in shock.

"Hey Lane." Dean responded softly, his mouth curving to a smile.

Laney instantly threw herself at Dean, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug and burying her face into his shoulder. Dean squeezed her back, breathing in the smell of strawberry shampoo.

"Dean," Laney stared, pulling back. "What the hell are you doing here? I mean, I never thought I'd see you again."

Dean smirked as he took a step back. "Well here I am."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to see you Dean. But what exactly are you here for?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Business." Dean replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. Laney nodded once before her eyes widened again as a thought hit her.

"Uh...uh, I gotta go." She stammered, turning on her heels.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second Laney." Dean called after her, grabbing her arm gently. "What's the rush?"

Laney bit her lip and casted her eyes downwards as she pulled out of Dean's grasp. "Dean...There's something I gotta tell you."

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN**SPN***SPN***SPN***

Sam paced back and forth across the motel room, checking his phone every so often. He glanced at the door whenever he heard the rumble of a car, but none of them sounded like the Impala.

Where the hell was Dean? It'd been over two hours since he last heard from his brother and he was really starting to worry.

He also couldn't shake this weird feeling he had in his gut. The moment he'd laid eyes on that girl Lily, the striking resemblance of those eyes she had, tied a knot in his stomach. Could that really be his daughter? Was he an uncle?

Moments later, Sam heard the doorknob jiggle before it swung open, hitting the wall behind it. Dean stood in the doorway, his face pale and his expression displaying pure shock.

The two brothers stared at each other for a moment before Dean took a shaky step into the motel room, closing the door behind him.

"Dean?" Sam called out wearily, breaking the heavy silence. "Hey, can you hear me, man?" He tried again. Dean looked as though he was going to pass out as he took another couple steps toward Sam.

"Sammy..." Dean whispered his voice practically unrecognizable. "I have a daughter."


	4. Chapter 4

Sam watched Dean as he took a few shaky breaths. Without a word Sam grabbed a glass and the bottle of whiskey, pouring Dean a drink, which he swallowed in one gulp, holding the cup out for another. Sam was silent as Dean finished his second and third glass, before he finally spoke.

"It's the girl, Lillian?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, she's eleven. Damn it, Sammy, I have an eleven-year-old daughter." Dean said, shaking his head.

"What'd she say?"

"A bunch of bull-shit about not wanting to ruin my life, about not wanting Lily to have a dad who just comes and goes. Damn, Sam, I wouldn't have been that way. I would have given it all up, or else she could have come with us." Dean said, almost pleading to Sam.

"I know, Dean." Sam said.

"Laney's gonna tell her, said she'd call in a few days so I can meet her."

"Not to sound insensitive, but what about the case?" Sam asked, sitting down.

Dean looked confused for a few seconds. "I don't know."

"Obviously they have something to do with it, I mean, I checked a little farther and it seems like every death is somehow connected to them. One of the boys in her class was a victim. Another one of the victims was their teacher before she died, a kid in another class, the landlord, the uncle and a neighbor. As much as you don't want to believe it, the family has something to do with it."

"I'll talk to Laney about it."

The days ticked by as Dean waited anxiously, until one day Laney called and said that Lily wanted to meet him, so she invited Dean and Sam over for dinner.

Dean nervously drove there, Sam was silent beside him. They'd figured that Sam could scout around while Dean talked to Lily.

Lily's POV

Lily sat on the couch, flipping through the channels as quickly as they came past, beside her sat Logan.

"Lily, I can't see, go slower." Logan whinned.

"No, I like going this fast." Lily said, not taking her eyes off of the screen.

Logan crossed his arms as he silently pouted, and after a minute, Lily handed him the remote and walked away.

"I didn't mean you had to leave, Lil, it's okay, I like it that way." Logan said, turning around and hanging over the couch.

"It's okay, I didn't want to watch it anymore." Lily said, a hint of kindness in her voice.

"Are you okay?" Laney asked, resting her hand on Lily's shoulder, but Lily shrugged away.

"I don't want to talk to you." Lily muttered, heading into her room. "This is all your fault."

Laney frowned at the comment and went back into the kitchen. Lily didn't feel remotely bad about being mean to her Mom, she deserved it. All this time Lily had been without a father because her mother had refused to call him and now she was forcing Lily to meet him when she didn't want too.

Demon, Lily's pit-bull, lay on the bottom half of the bed, and without a word, Lily patted his head.

"I already hate him, this is so stupid." Lily whispered. "I don't want a Dad and I don't need one. Why can't he just go away?"

Demon stared at her as if he was listening, his one blue eye seemed to look deep inside Lily.

"What did I tell you about that stupid mutt, Lily? I don't want him in my house." Laney said from the doorway.

"Well tough, I do and this is my room."

"Listen here, missy, I'm the boss of this house and what I say goes." Laney said. "They're here, so get out here."

Lily waited a minute until she heard the front door open and there was the sound of voices. Finally Lily stood up and walked out, Demon at her heals.


	5. Chapter 5

"Uh...Sam, maybe we should come back another time." Dean stammered, fidgeting with his hands in front of him.

Sam sighed and shot his brother a sympathetic look. "Look man, I know you're nervous. I am too, but Laney even said she wanted us to meet Lily. Especially you, considering you're her fath-"

"I know what I am." Dean snapped, running a hand over his face and bouncing on his toes. "Sorry. I'm just-...I don't know."

"You can do this, man. Just relax."

The front door suddenly swung open and Laney appeared, a hesitant smile on her face. "Dean." She said, her smile growing as she turned to Sam. "And you must be Sam." She greeted.

"It's great to meet you, Laney." Sam responded warmly, sticking out his hand to shake.

"You too." Laney said, grasping his hand softly. "Well, come on inside." She offered, stepping aside so the brothers could enter. "I'm so happy you too could make it. It really means a lot to me...and Lily."

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but his words got tangled in his throat and no sound came out, so he settled for nodding his head. Sam, clearly sensing his brother's struggles, spoke up quickly. "Thank you so much for having us, Laney. Dean and I know how hard it must be for the both of you, especially Lily."

Dean nodded his head in agreement, shooting Sam a grateful look.

"I just hope everything works out." Laney sighed.

"Us too." Dean whispered under his breath in a hoarse voice.

Suddenly, something came bounding around the corner of the hallway before latching onto Laney's leg. "Whoa there buddy," Laney giggled with a smile, ruffling the dark, curly, locks of her sons' hair. "Guys, this is Logan."

"Hiya." Logan said shyly, hiding half his face behind Laney's leg.

"Hey buddy," Sam greeted warmly, kneeling down in front of the boy. "I'm Sam, and that's my brother, Dean." He continued, motioning towards his brother.

Logan flashed his eyes between the brothers before focusing on Sam. "You're tall." He stated matter-of-factly.

Dean snorted a laugh as Sam smiled. "Yeah." He laughed. "One day, I bet your gonna be as tall as me!"

"Really?" Logan gasped with big eyes. Sam nodded quickly, laughing under his breath as he stood up. "Come with me! I wanna show you something super cool!" He continued in an excited voice, jumping out behind Laney's leg and grabbing Sam's hand. "Come on!" He squealed, yanking Sam towards the hallways.

"Okay, okay." Sam said with a laugh, waving bye to his brother as he disappeared down the hall.

"Cute kid." Dean noted with a grin.

"Yeah, he's a good boy. So, can I get you a drink?" Laney offered, Dean nodding as they made their way into the kitchen. "I've got sodas, water, beer, iced tea and I could make a pot of coffee."

"Beer's good." Dean said.

A creek coming from behind the two drew their attention, as they spun around. Lily stood in the doorway, a nervous expression on her face and a dog at her heels. Dean's breath caught in his throat as familiar green eyes bored into his own. A heavy silence came over as Dean and Lily stared at each other.

"Uh, Lily...this is Dean." Laney introduced softly, walking in between the two.

Dean took a hesitant step forward and knelt down in front of his...well...his daughter. "Hi Lily." The girl didn't respond and instead, continued staring, so Dean tried again. "Uh, cute dog." He offered, reaching his hand out to touch the mutt. The dog began to viciously growl and Dean backed off.

"He doesn't like strangers." Lily spoke for the first time, not bothering to conceal the venom in her voice.

"Lily, I told you to put that dog outside." Laney scolded.

"But-"

"Now Lily." Laney said, offering no room for suggestions.

"He's not your dog Mom, he's mine." Lily huffed under her breath as she turned on her heels and headed to the back door.

"Now, Lillian." Laney said and Lily stood there a second, her eyes portraying the hate and anger she would have liked to say but she did storm to the backdoor, the dog at her heels.

"Lily!" Laney called after her, but was met of the slamming door. She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. "I am so sorry Dean. She doesn't mean it...just give her some time."

"Don't worry about it Lane. I would act the same way." Dean said in an understanding voice, although the way Lily had acted still stung.

"Well, I'm gonna dinner's pretty much ready, so do you wanna get your brother and we can all eat?"

"Sure." Dean said, making his way down the hallway. He followed the sound of laughter, high pitched from the little boy and a lower laugh from his brother. He opened the door to where Sam and Logan were, and smiled at the sight. They were playing with little action figures, and Sam was showing Logan all the karate moves he could make the figures do.

"Dean, Dean!" Logan cheered, already having warmed up to both brothers. "Look what Captain Logan can do!" He squealed, showing off the figure doing a high jump and kick.

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Dean said in an excited voice. "Hey Sam, having fun there?" He teased jokingly, as Sam glared at him.

"Yes, I am actually." Sam responded as he got up from the ground.

"Well dinner's ready."

"Okay!" Logan cheered, grabbing Sam's hand and pulling him towards the door. "Let's go!"

"You're getting quite the workout there, Sammy." Dean whispered as Sam was yanked by him.

"Bite me." Sam growled, as Dean patted him on the shoulder.

Dean snorted a laugh as he shut the door behind him, following Sam and Logan back into the kitchen. He stopped short when he entered, seeing Lily already seated. He watched as Sam introduced himself, Lily giving him the same cold shoulder as she did to Dean. The older brother sat on the opposite end from Lily, wanting to give her space.

Logan chatted nonstop to Sam, who looked like he was growing more tired by the minute.

Lily and Dean caught eyes once again, before the girl moved her gaze elsewhere, pretending to be interested with the wall. Sam grabbed Deans attention, and the brothers had a silent conversation.

_Just give her time._

_She doesn't want me in her life Sam. And I don't blame her._

_Bullshit Dean. Give her time._

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest at the exact same moment Lily did so. This didn't slip by either of them as they stared at each other once more.

Laney finally joined them at the table, setting down a plate of food. "So who's ready for some dinner?"


	6. Chapter 6

Lily moved the spaghetti around her plate in circles. She wasn't hungry or interested in even being here and for the most part Logan was doing the talking. But after a bit, he noticed Lily and he too began to sulk. Lily saw her mother's expression; she was worried and uncomfortable, so she brought a conversation up.

"Lily's a straight A student, does great in school." Laney said. "Tell them about school, Lily."

"There's not much to tell." Lily muttered.

"She's just modest." Laney said. "She won an essay contest, what did you write it about? I can't remember."

"That's because you didn't go." Lily said, pointedly "I wrote about folklore and mythology.."

"Yeah, she just loves that stuff." Laney said. Lily could tell she was grasping at straws to get the conversation going.

"You have a nice dog." Sam said. "What's her name?"

"_His_ name is Demon." Lily said.

"Oh." Sam said.

"And it's totally cruel that he's supposed to stay outside where it's dark and cold." Lily said, eyeing her mother.

"There's a spot under the porch where he can sleep, Lily." Laney said.

Lily let the subject drop. She knew the moment Laney went to sleep she'd let him in, she always did.

"What about you, what's your job?" Lily asked. She was referring to Dean and Sam but she looked at neither of them when she spoke.

"We sort of just travel." Sam said. "You know, get work where we can."

Lily looked away, uninterested.

The dinner seemed to edge along but eventually it did end and Laney suggested they drink coffee in the living room.

"Why don't you show Dean your room, Lily?" Laney said.

Lily stood up and walked silently to her room, Dean behind her.

"This is my room." Lily said, in a monotone voice. "That's my bed, that's Logan's'."

"You like classic rock?" Dean asked, gesturing to the poster of ACDC and the Clash on the wall.

"Yeah." Lily said.

Dean pointed to a few drawings.

"You make those?"

Lily nodded.

"They're really good."

"Yeah." Lily said.

"So you know, I was thinking." Dean said, pausing. "We should maybe catch a movie or something."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"I don't know." Dean said, lamely.

"Look, I get it. You're my dad or whatever." Lily said. "But you don't owe me anything, I've lived this long without a dad and I don't need one now. You can go, it's fine. I won't be hurt."

"Maybe I want to get to know you." Dean said. "I didn't know about you, Lily, but if I had, I would have been here. I would have been a good Dad."

Lily's eyes softened a little.

"A movie would be good." Lily said.

They headed back to the living room, Logan was lying on one end of the couch watching cartoons, Sam was in a chair and Laney was in the kitchen.

"Well, we'd better get going." Dean said. "But, I'll leave you my number so you can call me when you want to get that movie."

"Okay." Lily said, taking the small piece of paper. "Thanks."

Laney didn't even wait ten minutes before they left and she was going to the bar.

"Watch out for Logan." Laney said, giving Logan a kiss on the head and heading out the door.

Lily frowned as she walked to the backdoor and let Demon in, the dog hurried to the couch and climbed up.

"What do you think?" Logan asked, following after Lily.

"About what?" Lily asked.

"Your Dad."

"I don't know." Lily said. "I want you to go take a bath while I clean up the kitchen."

"Do I have too?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, you do." Lily said, putting the leftover food in a bowl.

Logan walked away.

Lily was deep in thought as she did the dishes and tidied up the kitchen, finally she walked into the living room where Demon was.

"I know he means well, but I don't like him. I don't want him." Lily said, more to herself. "I just want him to go away, Demon. Go far away and never come back."

Demon seemed to be listening and after a minute he stood up and started to whine at the backdoor, eventually Lily got up and opened it, he took off into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, I think that went surprisingly well." Sam noted as the brothers entered their motel room.

Dean shrugged, tossing his jacket onto his bed. "I guess. At least better than I expected."

"Lily seems like a good kid. Logan too. I mean, for a single mom, Laney didn't do all that bad." The younger brother continued, plopping down on the bed farthest from the door.

"Yeah, I guess." Dean repeated, running a hand over his face. "But man, did you see all that beer she had? And all the empty cans? And that neighborhood they're living in? It seems pretty seedy. What if something happens when Laney's not there? She works two jobs, and the kids are there alone and-"

"Whoa, Dean. Look, I get that you're worried...I mean, Lily _is_ your daughter. But they've managed to survive for as long as they have."

"Yeah, but now that I know Lily even exists...I don't want them living in that crap-tastic neighborhood."

Sam nodded in agreement before standing up. "Me either. Hey, maybe we can see if Laney's willing to move? I mean, we've got some money to help her financially."

"And, since I master in the fine art of hustling, I can snag a couple thousand dollars." Dean offered with a smirk.

"Call her later and see if she's up to it then. I'm gonna hop in the shower." Sam said as he made his way into the bathroom, leaving Dean alone in his thoughts.

And then it really hit him for the first time.

He was a father.

He had a daughter.

A part of him couldn't help but feel guilty for not being in Lily's life sooner, even if he never knew about her. He had always sworn to himself that if...and that was a big if...he had ever had kids, he would have been the best dad he could be. He'd always be there for his kids and make sure that they got the childhood he never got. Dean would have made sure that his kids didn't grow up in the life he did...that they would live long, happy, _normal_ lives.

But he never thought he'd actually get the chance to do all of these things.

Where did this leave him now? He couldn't just up and skip town like he and Sam usually did. But they had a job to do. That yellow eyed son of a bitch was still breathing, and their Dad still hadn't contacted them.

Dean hadn't realized how long he had been sitting on the bed, before he heard the shower shut off. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft whining coming from outside.

"What the-" Dean muttered, walking slowly towards the door, pulling his gun out of his waistband.

Sam came sauntering out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following behind him as he dried his hair off in a towel. He stopped short and cocked his head at his brother. "What are you-"

"I thought I heard something..." Dean responded, furrowing his eyebrows. "Maybe it was just my-" Another whining growl sounded outside, and the brothers shot each other a look.

Sam tossed his towel down and headed to the table in the kitchen, his hand hovering over a shotgun as Dean continued towards the door. Dean glanced at Sam over his shoulder before yanking the door open, his gun at the ready. His eyes traveled downward until they landed on a familiar puppy dog face.

"Demon?"

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***

Lily groaned as she threw herself onto her bed, huffing a breath.

"Stupid Dean...stupid Mom..." She muttered, before sitting up, cross-legged. She furiously pulled at the strings on her bed, her bottom lip slightly jutted out.

Yeah, Dean seemed like a nice guy, but she didn't need him. She had done just fine taking care of Logan and herself on her own. Sure, her Mom brought home money and food, but she usually passed out not soon after. And Lily wasn't stupid...she could smell the liquor on her Mom's breath. But Lily had gotten used to being the responsible one. She was very mature for her age, and for good reasons. Just because her real Dad suddenly shows up, doesn't mean she was going to change the way she had lived her entire life.

Lily sighed as she made her way back into the living room, slightly smiling when she heard the bath turn on. "Hey, Logan! You good in there or do you need help?" She shouted.

"M' fine!" Logan called back.

Lily plopped down on the floor of the living room and began picking up the scattered colored pencils her brother had left everywhere as she began to think. Maybe, just maybe, a small part of her had liked Dean. He seemed like he really wanted to get to know her, and she always had wanted a Dad...Maybe she should have given him more of a chance...

Lily finished cleaning up Logan's toys before grabbing her jacket. Laney had told her where Dean and Sam were staying...Maybe she could stop by real quick and apologize...It was only a five minute walk...

"Logan, I'm running out! I'm locking the door, don't leave, okay?" She called, hearing Logan shout back an 'okay'. Lily slipped out of the house, locking it behind her, and began to jog in the direction of the motel.

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***

"The hell is that?" Sam asked, peeking from behind Dean at the dog.

"It's Lily's dog."

"Well, what the hell is it doing here?" Sam demanded.

Dean shrugged and glanced down at the dog. "I don't know, maybe-"

Before Dean could finish his sentence, the dog began to viciously snarl and show its teeth. The brothers instantly backed up as Demon stalked towards them. "Uhm..Dean..." Sam cautioned warily.

The dog snapped a bark and it looked like it was glaring at the brothers. "What's with Cujo, here?" Dean hissed. Demon suddenly charged Dean and Sam, both brothers diving in opposite directions. Before Dean could get away, the dog bit at Dean, clamping onto his arm, taring at the material of his shirt, swearing loudly Dean yanked his arm away before the dog reached his arm.

"Dean!" Sam screamed, fumbling for the gun on the table. Demon snapped his head in Sam's direction, and growled, charging Sam.

"Sammy, no!" Dean roared as he watched Demon hurled itself at Sam' neck.

A loud gunshot sounded throughout the room as a thud hit the ground.

Smoke fumed out of the barrel of Dean's gun, aimed at the now dead dog. Sam's breathing was heavy as he shakily stood up.

"What the hell?" Sam whispered, as Dean stared in horror at what he had just done.

"Shit man, what about-"

Suddenly, the dog began to quiver before it transformed into a man, right before their very eyes, a bullet hole in its back.

"What the hell?" Dean and Sam whispered simultaneously as they shared a look.

What they didn't see, was a small, shocked, eleven year old girl in the doorway as she watched her newly found Dad shoot her dog before said dog transformed into a man.


	8. Chapter 8

Lily felt like the breath had escaped her, not only had she just seen her dog get shot but he'd…_transformed_ into a man. Lily must have made a noise because both Sam and Dean turned toward her; Dean had a guilty expression on his face.

"What have you done?" Lily cried. "Oh my God!"

"Calm down, Lily, this isn't what it looks like." Dean said, hurrying over to her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Isn't what it looks like? Are you out of your mind! You just shot my dog and…and he turned into…oh my God." Lily repeated.

"Sit down; let me get you some water." Dean said, he led her to the bed and Dean brought over a bottle of water.

"What just happened?" Lily asked, taking a sip.

"It sounds crazy." Dean said, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't care how it _sounds_. I _saw_ it happen." Lily said.

"You know how people have been being attacked, your teacher, your uncle, your landlord…" Dean said, trailing off.

"Demon did that?" Lily asked, looking up at Dean with wide eyes. "But _how_?"

"You said you wrote a paper on mythology and folklore, so this may not come as a big shock but he's a skin walker. They're humans that can make a complete transformation into a canine. In some weird way I think Demon was doing those things for you and because they like to eat their victims hearts."

"I have to go." Lily said, shaking her head. "Logan's home alone, I…I can't deal with this." Lily said, standing up.

"Let me drive you home, it's late." Dean said.

Lily didn't protest, though normally should would say something smart about having walked the streets in the dark before. Instead she climbed into the passenger seat of the Impala and stared out the window, when Dean stopped in the front of her house Lily turned to him.

"I think you guys should leave." Lily said. "I don't need any more shit in my life right now…I have Logan to think about and I don't want him to be a part of any of this. We can call sometimes but…its better this way."

"Okay." Dean said, nodding.

Lily sighed and a mask went over her face, she no longer looked scared or confused instead she was placid.

Lily unlocked the backdoor and went straight to the fridge, she'd get hell for taking a beer, her Mom tended to count them but at this point she didn't care, her nerves where shot. Lily felt a little guilty; she was acting just like her Mom, when things got hard she drank but Lily shrugged the thought off and opened the can.

Lily sighed and walked into her room, Logan wasn't there and she guessed numbly that he was still in the bathroom, Lily was thankful she needed a few minutes alone, taking another long drink Lily set the can down on the nightstand and lay down on her bed. Closing her eyes the imagine replayed, the sound of the gun, the way that Demon had dropped and then…Lily shook her head.

Something wet dropped onto her face, her first thought was another leak in the roof. Great. Another drop and Lily opened her eyes. Shocked she saw Logan, stuck to the ceiling a deep gash on her stomach. He seemed to be screaming silently.

Lily jumped up and then Logan burst into flames. Lily screamed, trying to reach him, the flames licking at her skin. Someone was in her room, pulling her away as she reached and clawed to get to Logan, to save him, the fire seemed to push her away though and she was pulled through the living room and outside.

Looking behind her she saw Dean, his face just as shocked. Lily collapsed in his arms and began to cry and agonizing cry that tour at Dean's heart.

***SPN***SPN***SPN***

Lily sat on the hood of the Impala, her hands on her pocket. Numbly she looked up at house; it was still on fire, the firemen trying to put it out, the dark smoke clouded the sky.

Lily turned away, tears burning her eyes. Never in her life had she felt so alone, so broken.

"Someone needs to find my Mom." Lily whispered. "She's at a bar, probably the one a few blocks over."

"I'll get her." Sam said, he got up and gave a look to Dean and then started off in the dark.

Lily barley registered the sound of new sirens; that more smoke was in the sky.

Sam came back fifteen minutes later, a hard look on his face. Somehow Lily knew. Laney wasn't coming back and she was all alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Lily lay on the double bed in the motel room; her eyes were slightly glazed over, she wasn't asleep or awake. Nothing mattered. She could lay there forever. It even felt like forever, although it had only been a few hours.

Dean was sitting in an armchair on the other side of the small room. He had tried talking to Lily, offering her a drink, talking randomly about the weather but nothing had shaken Lily from her coma-like state. It broke Dean's heart to see his daughter there; he knew that if he didn't do something soon he'd have to take her the hospital or something. The thought didn't exactly make him happy.

Finally, Lily sighed and sat up.

"What happened? It doesn't make sense. I've run it over and over in my head…I can't stop. What happened?" Lily asked.

Dean felt like a weight was lifted from shoulders, she was talking and that was a great step.

"It's complicated. I've never told the story before so I guess I'm not very good…" Dean said. "Well, you know how Sam and I knew about Demon being a skin walker? Well we sort of hunt monsters."

Lily felt like her mind was playing tricks on her, these things were not supposed to be real. Yet, she'd seen it with her own eyes.

"Okay," Lily said, shaking her head. "So Demon was a skin walker, but what about Logan and my Mom? That's not a coincidence that they both died within an hour of each other. Dean, do you think she's still alive? The bodies were burnt beyond recognition…maybe she wasn't there."

"I think we need to be realistic about this. You said that bar was her favorite and the surveillance camera across the street caught her going in." Dean said. "And…the rest is a story that I'm not very good at telling. This isn't something you just go telling people."

Dean sighed and stood up, pouring a glass of whiskey and pacing a little.

"Dean…" Lily said.

"I guess it starts with my mom. She died when I was four and Sam was a couple of months old. Before she died, things were normal…" Dean paused; his eyes had a far-away, wistful look. "But she died, one night in a fire. I remember hearing her scream and I woke up, I heard my dad run past my room and I got up to check…" Dean's eyes went far away again, but this time they were not wistful but hard. "I saw her pinned to the ceiling, my dad handed Sammy to me and told me to take him outside."

Dean shook his head and took a drink.

"I don't know how my dad didn't go crazy, seeing your wife on the ceiling and then burst into flames. Everything pointed to crazy but he knew the truth and he found answers. So he packed up and took us with him…and he started hunting. He hunted anything he could find but that thing that killed my mom was always in his mind, always his goal, but the damn thing is always a step ahead, just out of reach." Dean sighed and sat down. "I should have protected you, this is my fault. If I hadn't come here, then this thing wouldn't have followed me. It's all my fault. It took away my mom, Sam's girlfriend, and now it's hurt you."

"It's not your fault, Dean." Lily said.

"I can't imagine how you feel right now. If I lost Sammy…I know what it's like to be the older one, to have a younger brother. Growing up Sam was my responsibility; I can already tell that was the case for you."

"I let him down." Lily said, tears forming in her eyes. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have left. Why would I leave a seven year old alone at night? It hurts so much Dean, it really hurts, like physically."

Dean paused a moment before opening his arms, and motioning Lily towards him. She flung herself into his arms, tears pouring from her eyes.

It felt nice, Dean was strong and for a few moments, Lily felt safe. She could pretend that nothing bad had happened, that she'd lived a normal apple-pie life with a Mom who didn't drink, a Dad who was there and a little brother.

"I want you to teach me." Lily said, pulling away. "I need to know everything; I have to kill the thing that took Logan away."

"No, no, no. I will not have you grow up into the life I did. I won't let you become some obsessed hunter." Dean argued.

"It's too late, Dean. I'm a part of this now."

"No."

"Dean-"

"Wouldn't you rather stay with someone else? Lily, this isn't…" Dean searched for the right words. "This lifestyle I live, it's not something I would choose for you. This isn't something I want for you."

"You don't need to choose, Dean, it was already chosen. I have no other choice; I have to do it for Logan and for my Mom. Besides, I have no one else. My grandparents died when I was little and they probably wouldn't have taken me in even if they were alive. They were very religious and disowned my mother when I was born." Lily sighed. "Will you teach me? How to hunt?"

"Lily, I can't."

"Please Dean?" Lily pleaded, staring at Dean with big, puppy dog eyes.

A heavy moment of silence took over before Dean spoke up. "Fine." He said, nodding. His heart felt heavy, he'd wanted so much more for Lily, he would have gladly left her alone if it had meant a normal life.

"Then we've got work to do." Lily said with determination.


	10. Chapter 10

Dean paced back and forth across the motel room, gathering his scattered thoughts. He glanced every so often at the small body, tucked under the covers of the bed farthest from the door. Lily laid fast asleep, her knees pulled to her chest, her body curled into a ball.

All of the crying and pure shock as to what had happened had taken a lot out of the young girl, and not soon after her and Dean talked, she fell right asleep.

It broke Dean's heart into a million pieces, knowing that there was no way he could make any of the hurt better. He knew personally how much it killed someone to lose someone you love, but an 11 year old girl losing her mom and her brother? He had no idea how she was still kicking.

And then there was the promise he made to her about hunting. He couldn't have just said no and shipped her off to some orphanage somewhere. She was his daughter, regardless of the fact that he just found out about her.

Dean really didn't want her hunting. It was an obsession that could drive people insane, and a part of Dean didn't think that Lily, being at such a young age, could handle it. But then again, she was a Winchester, and strength seemed to run in the gene.

The motel door suddenly opened and Sam entered, a tired expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Dean put his fingers to his lips and pointed at Lily. Sam's expression softened as he glanced at her, before nodding at Dean to follow him outside. Dean shot another worried look at Lily before stepping outside.

"How is she?" Sam asked as soon as Dean shut the door behind him.

"How do you think?" Dean sighed, Sam nodding his head once. "Where were you?"

"The morgue. They needed to identify the body, and I didn't think Lily would want to see her mom in the shape she was."

"Smart move." Dean noted. "So...was it Laney?"

Sam bit his lip and nodded, a somber look crossing his face. "I'm sorry, man."

"Damn it." Dean whispered, running a hand over his face.

"So what are we gonna do with Lily?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, Dean, it's not like she can just hit the road with us." Sam scoffed slightly. Dean glanced at his feet and before looking at his brother and shrugging. "Dean, this not the life for an 11 year old girl!"

"You don't think I know that?"

"Look, we can call CPS or something, and they can put her in a nice home with a good family-"

"Sam, we _are _her family!" Dean protested, struggling to control his anger.

"I know, Dean! But the way we live is no life for a little girl!"

"What'd you wanna do then, huh? Just toss her into child care, hope that she's not put into some crap house? Sam, you know as well as I do how those child care homes are. Most, if not all, treat the kids like shit! And I'm not doing that to Lily. Not when she has us."

Sam went quiet for a moment, before sighing aloud. "So what'd we do?"

"Well, for one thing...We're not letting Lily out of our sight. That yellow eyed son of a bitch was after her for some reason, and we're not letting him get to her."

"So we're really doing this?" Sam said quietly.

Dean sighed and nodded his head once. "Yeah. Man, that girl in there's my daughter, Sam. My _daughter_. There's no way in hell I'm leaving her now."

"Alright. Then I guess she'll be sticking with us."

"Good. Thanks, Sammy. Or- er..., Uncle Sam?" Dean corrected, a smile breaking across his face.

"Oh, come on-" Sam broke off when a shrill scream came from inside their room.

Without hesitating, Dean threw open the door and yelled, "Lily!"

Lily thrashed under the covers, a blood curling scream escaping her lips as she shot up from the bed. "Logan!"

"Hey, hey, Lily, it's me. It's Dean." Dean hushed, reaching the bed in three steps and kneeling in front of Lily. Her breathing was heavy as sobs racked her body. She glanced at Dean through the tears in her eyes and let out a wail, throwing her arms around Dean's neck and burying her head into his shoulder, tears running down her face.

Dean's heart broke as he glanced up at Sam in the doorway, who stood in shock. He was all too familiar with haunting nightmares, and felt for the little girl.

"Shh...It's okay, Lily, I'm here." Dean whispered, rubbing circles around Lily's back. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."


	11. Chapter 11

Lily stood doubled over clutching her stomach, she was covered in sweat her long black hair was in a ponytail at the crown of her head. Dean stood a few feet away, he felt bad about every hit that landed but he knew Lily needed to learn what it felt like and how to defend against it and it wasn't like he was giving any real force, nothing more than what she could handle. Still he felt guilty.

In the two weeks sense the fire Dean and Sam had been training Lily, Sam was better at the research part, going over mythology and folklore and teaching her Latin while Dean worked on physical combat, gun safety and shooting and he was planning on starting bow hunting soon.

"I can't do it Dean, it's too much." Lily complained as she stood up. "I go to school, I do combat and gun training with you, Latin, folk lore, and mythology with Sam, I go to that stupid therapist that social worker insisted on, I can't handle all of this."

"You wanted me to train you." Dean said, calmly.

"I didn't think it would be this much." Lily said. "Why do I have to do it all at once?"

"Because monsters don't come at you one at a time, they don't do things easy." Dean said.

Lily nodded and stood, her feet slightly apart and raised her fists. Dean swung and Lily ducked but before she could think of a move Dean's leg collided with Lily's side, angry at herself for letting him hit her and angry at the pain Lily swung her leg up and aimed between Dean's legs.

Instantly Dean dropped to the ground and clutched himself, Lily felt a wave of remorse and guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Dean. I didn't mean to I wasn't thinking." Lily said. "It just happened."

Dean didn't say anything, raising his index finger and after a minute he stood up, a little pale.

"Its okay, it's good even. In a real fight you don't play fair. But next time…don't." Dean said. "Let's call it a day and head back to the motel."

Lily watched the trees zoom past as they drove down the back road, ACDC was blaring through the car and Lily was able to just relax and let her mind go empty.

"Maybe we should have Chinese for dinner." Dean mused, turning the music down. "I haven't had that in a while."

"Okay." Lily said.

"What do you want?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm not really hungry."

"You haven't been eating much." Dean commented.

Lily shrugged.

"Maybe we should cool it with the training, you don't sleep well, you don't eat enough, I don't want you to burn out."

"I won't." Lily said. "I can handle it, really, I can."

"I don't know."

"I'll try and eat more and I can't control what I dream about Dean but I'll try and go to bed early but please, I need to learn."

"I know." Dean said, sighing.

After dinner Lily took a quick shower and laid down on the pull-out cot, she fell asleep quickly but Dean knew it would only be a few hours before a nightmare woke her up, walking outside he dialed his Dad's number, he'd called every day for two weeks but hadn't gotten an answer so when John did pick up, Dean was surprised.

"Hello."

"H-hey Dad." Dean stuttered a little.

"Hey, Dean." John said.

"Is everything okay?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, sorry I haven't called, it's just not safe. I got your messages. I'm sorry son, finding out you have a daughter is big enough but then that damned monster came and killed her family."

"I don't know what to do Dad, she wanted me to train her so I am but damn, I don't want this for her."

"What other option is there?" John asked. "You have to train her, it's better this way. If you don't then she won't be able to protect herself, she needs to learn to be a solider and fight for herself."

"She'd only eleven." Dean protested.

"DOesn't matter, a monster won't care how old she is and she's a Winchester so monsters are gonna come lookin' for her. They already have, she already has a strike against her for that she doesn't need another one by not knowing how to protect herself. Teach her son; show her what it's like. It's better that way."

"Yes sir." Dean said.

"Tell me about her." John said.

"She's a great kid, has my eyes but other then that she's the spitting image of her Mom, that's hard, lookin' at her and seeing Laney. She hasn't had a good night sleep sense it happened, how do I deal with that? She wakes up screaming and I can't help her, I can't fix it. Then sometimes I'll watch her and she just spends hours staring ahead, lost in her own world and I know she's thinkin' about her brother. She won't talk about and when I ask she just shuts me out."

"You did that too." John said. "After your mom, you didn't talk for days, just sat there. In the morning I'd wake up and find you in the crib with Sammy. It just takes time, just be there for her."

"I can't do this Dad, I need you." Dean said.

"I can't be there, you have to handle this. Just keep doing what you're doing, train her, you and Sam teach her what it's like to be a Winchester. I'll get in touch when I can."

Dean sighed as he shoved the phone in his pocket, he'd hoped a call from his dad would clear things up but he still felt as conflicted as ever. Hearing whimpers from the motel room Dean walked in, Lily's face was contorted into anguish and fear, waiting a minute to see if it was passed Dean walked over and gently shook her away.

"Hey, you're dreaming." Dean whispered.

Lily nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"Why can't I just forget it? I don't want to remember Dean, during the day it's easy, I just keep working but I can't keep my mind occupied during the night. I hate the night Dean. I hate being here. I hate my school. I hate my friends. I hate everything."

"I'm sorry." Dean said, pulling her into a hug. "I wish I could just fix everything."

"Can't we move away? Go someplace else?"

Dean was silent for a second and then nodded.

"Sure."

"When?"

"I'll take you out of school tomorrow." Dean said. "We can hit the road after that."


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning while Dean went to Lily's school, she and Sam searched through a few stacks of newspaper; Sam was trying to show her the signs of a hunt.

"I don't get it, what makes you think it's a hunt? All it says is a sudden death."

"That's usually a good sign. It's also fairly close, it's only about a ten hour drive and with the way Dean drives, we'll make it in eight or nine. Once there we can dig a little deeper and if it's nothing, we didn't really waste any time."

Lily nodded and watched as Sam did a little more digging. But all they could really find was that a daughter had found her father dead, his eyes bleeding.

Lily sat shotgun while Sam slept in the backseat. It was just a little before midnight but Lily didn't feel like sleeping. She'd never been good at sleeping in the car; it was probably something she was going to have to get use to though.

Sam jerked awake in the backseat, and Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew what he was going through. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Logan…

"I take it I was having a nightmare." Dean commented.

"Yeah, another one." Sam said.

Suddenly Lily felt sorry for Dean, having to deal with Sam's nightmares and hers. It was a wonder how he got any sleep at night.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep." Sam said, shrugging.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." Dean said, and although he was talking to Sam, Lily knew he was also referring to her.

"Are we here?" Sam asked.

"Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Dean said.

Lily sat in the Impala outside of the morgue. She'd wanted to go in with them but Dean had refused to let her, saying she didn't need to see a dead body.

After a while Dean and Sam walked out and Lily climbed into the backseat.

"So, what he'd say?" Lily asked.

"His eyes weren't just bleeding, they practically liquefied." Sam said. "There was no sign of a struggle and he was all alone. They have no official cause of death yet, but they're thinking a massive stroke or an aneurysm."

"So what does it mean? Is it a just a medical thing? What kind of monster does that?"

"It doesn't have to be a monster, maybe a spirit." Sam said.

"Let's go talk to the daughter." Dean said.

The three of them walked into the Shoemaker home. Apparently they were having a funeral, and everyone was wearing black suits or black dresses, except for Sam, Dean and Lily.

"Feel like we're underdressed." Dean commented, as they walked towards the back of the house. Outside they saw a group of girls in their teens, and someone a little younger, about Lily's age.

"You must be Donna, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Hi, uh – we're really sorry." Sam said.

"Thank you." Donna said.

"I'm Dean and this is Lily, and that's Sam. We worked with your Dad."

"You did?" Donna asked.

"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke."

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." Charlie said.

"Dean, I have to go to the bathroom." Lily said.

"Uh, um, where's your bathroom?"

"Lily, why don't you show her?" Donna asked.

Lily Shoemaker nodded and got up and showed Lily to the downstairs bathroom.

"I'm sorry about your Dad." Lily said.

"It's all my fault." Lily Shoemaker said, shrugging sadly.

"How?" Lily asked.

"I said Bloody Mary."

"What do you mean?"

"I had friends over and we played Bloody Mary, she came and clawed his eyes out."

"It's not your fault, it's not even real. Besides, your dad didn't say it, did he?" Lily asked.

"I don't think so."

"So it couldn't be that." Lily said.

When Lily was finished with the bathroom, they left shortly after.

"I don't know if it's important or not but I have some information." Lily said.

"What?" Dean asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

"Lily said that her dad died because she said Bloody Mary, I mean I know it's not how the story goes but maybe she did do it."

"The Blood Mary legend…Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked Dean.

"Not that I know of." Dean said.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody ever died from it." Sam said.

"Maybe everywhere else it's just a story, but here it's actually happening, maybe it's the place where the legend began." Lily suggested.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B –." Sam paused, glancing at the rearview mirror. "The person who says you know what gets it, but here –."

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean said. "Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."

"It's worth checking in to." Sam said.

Sam, Dean and Lily walked into the library later that day.

"All right, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gotta be some sort of proof – Like a local woman who died nasty."

"Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like fifty versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." Sam said.

"All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" Dean asked.

"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspaper – public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."

"Well that sounds annoying." Dean said.

"No it won't be so bad as long as we…" Sam stopped as he saw the computers which all had "Out of Order" signs on them. "I take it back." Sam said, chuckling. "This will be very annoying."

Sam showed Lily what to look for in the newspapers. It was tedious work but it wasn't hard. After a while she got sleepy and the words seemed to blur together.

When Dean noticed she was asleep he picked her up from the table and laid her down on one of the couches, covering her up with his jacket.


	13. Chapter 13

Lily felt herself being jostled awake and found herself lying down in the back of the Impala. Dean was hovering above her, shaking her gently.

"Lil, wake up." He whispered.

"Hm, I'm up." She mumbled, forcing her eyes open.

"Me and Sam gotta talk to Charlie. We'll be right back." Dean continued, pulling himself out of the car and following Sam to a park bench where Charlie sat.

Lily groaned and sat up, waiting until the world stopped spinning around her. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and stared out the window. She saw Charlie crying while Dean and Sam watched her silently. She furrowed her eyebrows and wondered what had happened. She didn't have to wait long before Dean and Sam came back to the car.

"What happened?" Lily questioned, leaning forward as Dean started the Impala.

"You remember Jill, from the funeral? Smokin' blonde with a nice-" Dean cut off, suddenly remembering Lily and Sam were both there. He coughed uncomfortably and drove the car down the road. "Well, she was just killed." He continued.

"What?" Lily gasped. "Were her eyes...you know..."

"Yeah." Sam said somberly. "So we're gonna head to Jill's and scope the place."

"And you'll be staying in the car." Dean added, looking at Lily through the rearview mirror.

"What? Why?" She asked incredulously.

"Because I said so." Dean said simply.

Lily huffed a breath and crossed her arms over her chest, as the Impala pulled into Jill's driveway.

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***

Lily watched from the car window as Dean and Sam snuck into Jill's house through her window. She was mad. How was she supposed to learn how to hunt if Dean never let her take part in one?

It wasn't fair. She hated sitting around by herself, because her mind wandered. She thought about her mom and her brother a lot. And every time that thought came to her mind, she felt herself getting choked up. So Lily shoved down the tears and tried to keep herself occupied.

Lily spotted a brown leather journal sitting up front and quickly reached forward and grabbed it. She had seen Dean and Sam looking through it before, and wondered what was in it. She flipped through the journal, and felt her mouth gape open. Hundreds of monsters, demons, and spirits filled the pages. Lily couldn't believe there were this many types of evil.

Suddenly, the door opened and she jumped as the brothers pulled themselves in.

"Alright, so at least we got a lead now. Jill-" Dean cut off as he glanced at Lily, seeing his Dad's journal in her hands. "What are you doing?" He questioned.

"Uhm...nothing." She said innocently, slowly closing it.

Dean grabbed the journal and tossed it up front before facing her. "Lily, I'm only going to say this once. Never touch this journal again, got it?" He said seriously.

"Why?" She demanded. "I already saw a bunch of stuff inside."

"I don't care. I don't want you reading this journal, and that's final." He said with finality, controlling his exasperation.

Lily glared at Dean before turning her head to face the window. Dean and Sam shared a look before they began driving.

After stopping at the Shoemakers, with Lily being left in the car again, they headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana to question some detective about a murder of a lady named Mary. Dean made Lily stay in the car once again.

She could feel her anger bubbling as time moved on. She was never going to learn if she didn't get a chance to practice.

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***

"Oh really? Ah that's too bad Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. All right, thanks." Sam sighed as he hung up the phone.

"So?" Dean asked.

"So that was Mary's brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques. A store in Toledo."

"So wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?"

"Her spirit's definitely tied up with it somehow." Sam continued with a pondering look.

"Why don't we just smash it?" Lily piped in from the back.

"I guess it's worth a shot." Dean said with a shrug. Sam's phone suddenly rang and once he picked it up, Charlie could be heard on the other end, hysterical.

The Winchester's raced back to Toledo and found Charlie crying because of something that happened at school. After bringing the girl back to their motel room and blocking all sorts of reflections, they had found out that Charlie was going to be Mary's next victim. Dean, Sam and Lily hopped back in the car after making sure Charlie was okay and sped off to the nearest mirror store.

***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***SPN***

The drive was tense, and after an even tenser stop where Dean and Sam argued as to how to bring Mary to them, they figured out a plan. Sam would summon Mary using a secret he had kept that had gotten his girlfriend killed, or that was how Lily interpreted it.

They came to a stop outside of the small antique store, Dean and Sam grabbing two crowbars from up front.

"Alight, come on Sam. Lily, we'll be right back." Dean said quickly, opening his door.

"No."

Dean paused and looked at Lily. "What?"

"I said no. I'm sick of you just leaving me in the car! I'm never gonna learn how to hunt if I don't practice!"

"You're 11. I'm not letting you go in there with-"

"You and Sam both hunted at my age!" Lily cut in incredulously.

"We're not discussing this." Dean said adamantly.

"Why not? It's not fair that-"

"Guys!" Sam interrupted suddenly. "You two can deal with this later. We gotta finish this now before anyone else gets hurt."

"I'm coming."

"No you're not."

"Yes I-"

"Guys!" Sam yelled in exasperation.

"Fine!" Dean yelled, running a hand over his face before turning to Lily. "You stay by our sides and you don't wander off. When I say duck, you duck. When I say run, you run. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Lily muttered, jumping out of the car.

After breaking into the store, they scoured the place for the mirror that had belonged to Mary. Suddenly, a light shone through the window. "I'll go check that out. You two stay here, be careful. Smash anything that moves." Dean said, handing his crowbar to Lily. "Stay close to Sam." He ordered her, before making his way out of the store.

Lily fiddled with the crowbar and stayed huddled next to Sam, her pulse racing. "Sam-"

"Lily, duck!" He shouted suddenly, swinging the crowbar right above where she once stood and into the mirror behind her, shattering it to pieces. Sam quickly helped her up, brushing the pieces of glass out of her hair. "Go, Lily, now! Hide!" Sam yelled, as Mary appeared in another mirror and he swung at her once again.

Lily ran instantly and crawled behind a table, jumping as the sound of breaking glass shattered across the room. She covered her ears with her hands, before she heard the sound of metal dropping and Sam groan. A voice began to speak up that sounded like Sam, though it had a sinister tone.

"It's your fault. You killed her. You killed Jessica." The voice seethed.

Lily listened silently as the voice accused Sam of having nightmares of this girls death days before it happened. She heard Sam drop to the floor, just as another mirror shattered.

"Sam! Sammy!" Dean suddenly yelled and Lily ran from her hiding spot. She saw Dean crouched by Sam, wiping away what looked like blood from his eyes. Mary appeared behind Dean and Lily ran at the mirror smashing it with her crowbar. "Holy-" Dean yelled, jumping at the sound.

"Lily." Sam breathed.

"Are you okay?" She questioned worriedly, as Dean helped Sam up.

"Yeah-"

Pain rippled through all three of the Winchester's chests and they dropped to the floor, blood seeping out of their eyes. Mary crawled out of one of the mirrors and began to stalk towards them. Dean grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her behind him as he quickly grabbed a stray mirror. Mary halted her advance before staring at herself in the mirror, convulsing and melting into a pile of blood.

Dean threw the mirror and it shattered, his, Lily and Sam's breathing heavy. "This has gotta be like 600 years of bad luck." He muttered, earning a weak chuckle from Sam. "Lily, you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Lily breathed, wiping away the blood from her eyes.

"Hunting isn't so much fun, now is it?" Dean noted as he pulled himself up, grabbing Sam and helping him up before offering his hand to Lily.

"I can adjust." She retorted, accepting his offer.

The Winchesters headed back to Charlie, dropped her off back home and began their journey to a new case. Lily laid in the backseat, completely exhausted as the brothers spoke. Dean's jacket was bunched into a ball beneath her head and Sam's jacket lay draped across her. Her eyes drooped shut and her breathing evened out, the roar of the Impala lulling her to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Lily sat in the backseat of the Impala; on her lap was her new laptop she'd gotten for her schoolwork, which was what she was doing now. Dean didn't care much either way if she did her work or not, but Sam did and that was why he was in charge of her school and made sure she did at least four hours a day. But because they spent most of the day in the Impala, that's where she did work but there were frequent breaks, do to car sickness.

Thankfully though, they stopped at a gas station.

"Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucamcari by lunch, and then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." Dean said, but Sam didn't respond and instead was doing something with his palm pilot "Sam wears women's underwear."

"I've been listenin', I'm just busy." Sam said.

"Busy doin' what?" Dean asked.

"Reading e-mails." Sam said as Dean got out of the car and started to pump gas. "From my friends at Stanford."

"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?"

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?"

"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and niece. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess."

"Oh, so you lie to them." Lily said, leaning her head on the back of his seat, Dean tossing Lily a smirk.

"No. I just don't tell 'em…everything." Sam said.

"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man., I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse." Dean said.

"You're both kind of anti-social, you know that?"

"Yeah, whatever." Dean said.

"God…" Sam said.

"What?" Both Dean and Lily asked.

"In this email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine."

"Is she hot?" Dean asked.

"I went to school with her and her brother, Zack." Sam said, ignoring Dean's comment. "She says Zack's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case."

"Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?"

"No, man, I know Zack. He's no killer." Sam said.

"Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." Lily said.

"They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." Sam said.

"Look," Dean said, chuckling. "Sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem. "

"It is our problem, they're my friends."

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." Dean said and Sam gave him a pointed look.

**SPN**SPN**

Lily stood behind Dean and Sam and she felt awkward all of a sudden. She hadn't really talked to anyone outside of Sam and Dean in weeks, and even before then, talking to people she didn't know had always been an awkward thing for her.

The front door opened and a pretty blonde girl stood there.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Rebecca said, happily.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam teased.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." Rebecca said, smiling as they hugged.

"I got your e-mail."

"I didn't think you would come here." Rebecca said, as Dean stepped forward and extended his hand.

"Dean. Older brother."

"Hi." Rebecca said, shaking it.

"Hi."

"This is Lily." Dean said stepping aside.

"Hi." Rebecca said.

"Hello." Lily said, shaking her hand briefly.

"We're here to help. Whatever we can do."

"Come in." Rebecca said.

They walked in and Dean shut the front door. "Nice place." Dean said.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free."

"Where are your folks?"

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." Rebecca said as they walked into the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?"

"Hey –." Dean said, smiling.

"No, thanks." Sam said. "So, tell us what happened."

"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." Rebecca said, starting to cry. "So, he called 911, and the police – they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police – they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight."

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene, Zack's house?" Sam said.

"We could."

"Why? I mean, what could you do?" Rebecca asked.

"Well, me not much, but Dean's a cop." Sam said and Dean laughed.

"Detective, actually."

"Really?" Rebecca asked and Dean nodded. "Where?

"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now."

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just – I don't know.

"Bec, look." Sam said. "I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent."

"Okay." Rebecca said. "I'm gonna get the keys." Rebecca said, walking down the hall.

"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends." Dean said.

"Look, Zack and Becky need our help."

"I just don't' think this is our kind of problem." Dean said.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." Sam said and Dean said nothing, defeated.  
>**SPN**SPN**<p>

They all stood outside of Zack's house, Rebecca was clearly uncomfortable.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. I am an officer of the law." Dean said as they walked up to the house.

They walked in and looked around. The furniture and walls of the house are smeared with blood, Rebecca stood on the porch steps.

"Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asked.

"No, I wanna help." Rebecca said, ducking under the police tape and entering the house.

"Tell us what else the police said." Sam said.

"Well," Rebecca said, tearfully. "There's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers – they're already talking about plea bargain." Rebecca said, bursting into tears. "Oh, God."

"Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?"

"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes – Zack's clothes. The police – they don't' think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed."

Dean moves to the open front door and sees the neighbor's dog, barking loud. Rebecca came up behind him. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog."

"I'll be outside, Dean." Lily said.

"Stay close." Dean said.

Lily walked near the fence, the dog slowly stopped barking.

"Hey, buddy." Lily said, softly. "What'd you see?"

The dog whined and pressed his head against the fence.

Tentatively Lily petted him with one finger through the fence.

"It'll be okay." Lily whispered.

"Come, Lil." Dean called.

Lily patted the dog's head one last time and hurried away.

**SPN**SPN**

Bored, Lily sat in an armchair watching the security tape that Rebecca had stolen from her lawyer.

"Here he comes." Rebecca said as the tape showed Zack entering his house.

"22:04, just after ten. You said time of death was about 10:30."

"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." Rebecca said.

"Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" Sam asked.

"Oh, sure." Rebecca said, getting up to go to the kitchen.

"Maybe some sandwiches, too?"

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" Rebecca teased.

"I wish." Dean mumbled as she walked away, once she was out of sight he turned to Sam. "What is it?"

"Check this out." Sam said, rewinding the tape and pressing play. The frame shows Zack looking directly at the camera, his eyes are silver.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare."

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen." Lily said. "You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul."

"Right." Dean said.

"Remember that dog freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing, maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him. Like a Doppelganger."

"It'd sure explain how he was in two places at once." Sam said.

Lily smiled gleefully; it always felt nice when she was able to contribute to the hunt, since there was so much she couldn't do.

~~SPN~~SPN~~

Lily sat in the backseat of the Impala, trying to stay awake but failing miserably, every few minutes she'd doze off and jerk awake.

"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asked.

"I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out."

"So, he came out the back door." Dean said, as they got out.

"Right. So, there should be at trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue."

"'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning."

Sam looked around the outside of the building, and noticed blood smeared on a nearby telephone pole.

"Blood." Sam said. "Somebody came this way."

"Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." Dean said, just as an ambulance drove past.

They followed it and spotted an Asian man handcuffed and being put into the backseat of a police car.

"What happened?" Dean asked, a nearby woman.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy."

They walk around the house and take started to look around.

"Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean said.

"Yeah."

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean said.

"What'd you find?" Sam asked.

"Well, I talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently, the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."

"So, he was two places at once." Lily said.

"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob."

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam said.

"Could be the same thing doin' it, too." Dean said.

"Shapeshifter?" Sam asked. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?"

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creates who can transform themselves into animals or other people." Lily said.

"Right, skin walkers, werewolves." Sam said.

"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessing' we've got a shape shifter prowling' the neighborhood." Dean said.

"Let me ask you this, in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asked.

"None that I know of." Dean said.

"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed of this way."

"Just like your friend's house."

"Yeah, and just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared."

"Well, there's another way to go." Dean said, looking at a manhole. "Down."

"Lily, I want you to go back to the Impala and stay there." Dean said, leaning down to lift the manhole open.

"No." Lily said. "I'm not staying behind."

"Do as I say, Lily." Dean said.

"No, Dean, I'm not doing it. I have every right to do be down there, I need to learn. I need to prepare myself." Lily said, stubbornly. "There's no other way, if you make me stay I'll just wait until you two go down and then go down on my own, is that what you want?"

Dean looked away, he'd never dealt with someone so defiant and he didn't like it, he wanted so badly to keep Lily _safe_ but she wasn't letting him.

"Lily…" Dean said, turning to look at her. It surprised him then how much she looked like him, standing there with her arms crossed and a cocky look in her eyes, Dean knew she was coming down one way or another. "Stay close."

"Thanks." Lily said, smiling.

They climbed down the manhole, which smelled awful, Lily standing in between Sam and Dean.

"I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around."

"I think your right." Dean said, bending down to examine a pile of blood and skin. "Look at this."

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asked.

"You know." Dean said, taking out a pocketknife and holding up some of the skin. "I just had a sick though. When the shapeshifter changes shape – maybe it sheds."

"That is sick." Lily agreed.

They all climbed back out of the manhole and to the Impala, Dean opened it and started to take out weapons.

"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it."

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam said.

"That's right." Dean said and then Sam's cell phone rang.

"This is Sam…we're near Zack's, we're just checkin' some things out…What are you talkin' about?" Sam's facial expression changed for a moment. "Why would you do that? Bec…We're trying to help…Bec I'm sorry, but-." Sam hung the phone up a disappointed look on his face.

"I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about." Dean said. "You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked; it's just – it'd be easier if –."

"If I was like you." Sam said.

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig – it ain't without perks." Dean said, holding up a gun, without a word Sam took it put it in his jeans.

"Here, Lil." Dean said, handing Lily a .22.

Lily also put her gun in the waist band of her jeans.

Down in the sewer they retraced there steps.

"I think we're close to its lair." Lily commented.

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." Lily said, and Sam turned to see another pile of blood and skin on a nearby pipe.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." Dean said.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam said.

Sam turned to see the shapeshifter still in the form of the Asian man.

"Dean!" Sam yelled. Dean turned at the exact moment the Asian man punched him, sending him falling to the ground, the Asian man ran off down the tunnel and Sam let off a few shots that echoed around them, Lily clasped her hands to hear ears and screamed in terror.

"Get the son of a bitch!" Dean barked as Sam started to get closer to him.

All three of them took of down the tunnel and then up a manhole.

"All right, let's split up." Sam said.

"All right, I'll meet you around the other side."

Lily followed behind Sam.

Sam and Lily search but find nothing and eventually walk back to the Impala.

"Hey?" Dean said and Sam turned around. "Anything?"

"No. He's gone." Sam said.

"All right, let's get back to the car." Dean said.

"You think he found another way underground?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Dean asked.

"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" Sam asked.

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?"

"Oh right, here ya go." Sam said, throwing the keys and walking away.

Lily nervously watched Dean, something felt off…wrong. Dean watched her for a second before opening the trunk.

"…Hey Dad, what time is it?"

"Quarter after seven." Dean said, casually.

Lily felt the blood leave her face, she never called Dean Dad and if she had suddenly started, she was sure there would be something in Dean's face, but he had answered her in a such a casual way. Shocked Lily turned to Sam who motioned quietly for her to step toward him.

"Don't move!" Sam called, stepping toward Dean his gun aimed. "What have you done with him?"

"Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" Dean said.

"No, I don't think so." Sam said. "Where's my brother?"

"You're about to shoot him. Sam, calm down." Dean said.

"You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt.

"Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?" Dean asked.

"Lily called you Dad. She's never done that. Dean would have been surprised…You're not my brother."

"Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me."

"Don't." Sam said. Dean paused before hitting Sam twice with a crowbar; Lily let out a squeal and backed away as she pulled the gun from her jeans.

"Leave me alone…" Lily said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Come on…it doesn't have to be this way." "Dean", said.

Lily pulled the trigger and "Dean", staggered backwards clutching his stomach. His face changed into anger and pain and he started toward Lily but she ran off.

She ran a few blocks and then paused, no one was following her, slowly and carefully she made her way back to the Impala and sat "Dean", dragging Sam off. Lily followed and staid hidden in the shadows.

Just as "Dean" got Sam tied up he started to wake.

"Where is Lily? Where's Dean?'

"I wouldn't worry about them. I'd worry about you."

"You're hurt…" Sam said.

"Yeah…Lily shot me." Dean said, smirking. "I'll take care of her later."

"Where is she?"

"You don't really wanna know." "Dean" said, chuckling. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family – I thought I came from a bad background."

"What do you mean, learn?" Sam asked as "Dean" grabbed his head in pain and grimaced.

"He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"

"Where is my brother?" Sam repeated.

"I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. Now I'm saddled with a kid I couldn't even keep safe."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to do, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothing', just poff. Left me your sorry ass. But, still, this life. It's not without its perks." "Dean" said, chuckling. "I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he got the chance. Let's see what happens." Dean said, smiling and covering Sam with a sheet.

Lily slid into the shadows as "Dean" passed. She waited until she was sure he was gone.

"Dean? Sammy?" Lily called.

"Lily!" Sam called.

Lily hurried over and pulled the sheet off of Sam.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"Cut the ropes." Sam said.

Lily pulled a pocket knife from her pocket and began to cut the ropes, as she did she heard sound from the other side of the room and coughing.

"That better be you, Sam and not that freak of nature."

"Yeah, it's me." Sam said. "He went to Rebecca's, lookin' like you."

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Dean said.

Lily uncut the ropes and handed the pocket knife to Sam, she didn't want to be near Dean right now, the word still rang through her head. It may not have been Dean saying it but it was his thoughts, he was saddled with her. He didn't really want her.

"Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories. "Sam said.

"you mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?"

"Yeah, something' like that. I mean maybe that's why he doesn't kill us."

"Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connecting.

"How didn't you get caught, Lil?" Dean asked.

"I shot him…" Lily said, refusing to look at him. "I didn't get his heart though."

"Good job."

"Yeah, I can do this, even if you don't think so. If you'll around, I'm the only one who didn't get tied up tonight." Lily snapped, walking away and leading them out.

"Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you're gonna put an APB out on me." Dean said.

"Sorry." Sam said, shrugging.

"This way." Lily said, running down the street.

As they walked down the street an hour later, they stopped at a TV display that had the news.

"An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." A sketch of Dean appeared on the screen.

"Man! That's not even a good picture." Dean complained.

"It's good enough." Sam said, walking away.

"Man!"

Sam turned down an alley.

"They said attempted murder. At least we know…"

"I didn't kill her."

"We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's all right."

"All right but first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy rap out of him."

"We have no weapons. No silver bullets."

"Sam, the guy's walkin' around with my face, okay, it's a little personal. I wanna find him."

"Okay, where do we look?'

"Well, we start with the sewers."

"We have no weapons." Sam repeated. "He stole our guns, we need more." Sam said and then paused. "The car?"

"I'm bettin' he drove over to Rebecca's."

"The news said he fled on foot. I bet it's still parked there."

"The thought of him drivin' my car." Dean said, shaking his head.

"Get over it." Lily muttered, turning away.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"Nothin'." Lily said, walking away.

"Lily!"

"I don't want to _Dean_." Lily snapped.

They walked silently to Rebecca's house, Dean looked at the Impala, relieved. "Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight."  
>Just as they approached it a police car appeared.<p>

"Oh crap." Dean turned and another police car is parked a few yards away. "This way, this way."

Dean ran toward the fence.

"You go, I'll hold 'em off."

"What are you talking about? They'll catch you."

"Look, they can't hold me. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet me at Rebecca's."

Dean held his hands out for Lily who stepped into them and climbed over the fence.

"Dean." Sam said. "Stay out of the sewers. I mean it!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

They ran until it was safe and then doubled back to the Impala.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.'

"Who said something was wrong?" Lily asked.

"You've been short to me this whole time, I thought we were better than that."

"So did I, until I realized I'm just someone your saddled with. Listen, Dean, if you don't want me here just say so. My Mom was only a little older than me when her parents kicked her out, I'll be fine."

"Who said I didn't want you here?" Dean asked.

"You did. Well…the shapeshifter did. He said "I'm saddled with a kid I couldn't even keep safe". I can take care of myself Dean, I showed that tonight."

"I'm not saddled with you, Lily, you're one of the greatest things in my life." Dean said. "What else did the shapeshifter say?"

"Stuff about how everyone leaves you, how Sammy got to be normal. How your Dad left you without any reason." Lily said, looking up at Dean. "You don't really don't think your saddled with me?"

"No. I'll admit though that I wish…I wish I hadn't come to get you because I brought the monster with me…I'm to blame."

"It's not you Dean…" Lily said, sighing. "I didn't tell you before…I had nightmares about Logan dying…for months ahead of time. In my dream though all I saw was Logan on the ceiling and then a pair of yellow eyes in the dark…I could have stopped it."

Dean was silent for a long time.

"This isn't your fault. It's mine, I don't how but it is. Now let's go, we've got to finish the hunt we can talk more later."

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to the sewers."

"But Sam said not too."

"Since when is Sam in charge?" Dean asked, smirking.

They walked silently through the sewers until they came to a chamber filled with candles and chains, revolting piles of skin and blood on the floor, they both looked over at a sound and then they saw Rebecca in a corner.

"Rebecca?" Dean asked, hurrying over to untie her.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"I was walking home." Rebecca said, crying. "And everything went white. Someone hit me over the head and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know, how is that even possible.

"It's okay." Lily said, "Come on, can you walk?" Rebecca nodded.

"Okay, we've gotta hurry. Sam went to see you."

They get there just in time to see "Dean" pinning Sam to the floor and choking him.

"Hey!" Dean yelled and just as "Dean" looked up he shot him twice in the heart.

"Sam!" Rebecca said, rushing over.

Dean walked slowly over "Dean" and noticed his necklace around his neck, without a word he yanked it.

Tiredly, Lily leaned against the Impala as the sun started to rise. Dean was looking at a map beside her and Sam was a few yards away talking to Rebecca, finally they hug and Sam walks away. Rebecca waved at Dean and Lily and they both returned the wave.

"So, what about your friend, Zack?'

"Cops are blamin' this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon."

"I'm sorry, man." Dean said.

"About what?"

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be…Joe College."

"No, that's okay. You know the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in."

"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak."

"Yeah, thanks.'

"Don't worry Sammy, we're freaks too. We're right with you."

"Yeah I know. "Sam said, chuckling.

"You know, I gotta say, I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean said.

"Miss what?" Sam asked.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" Dean asked.

"That's not somethin' I ever wanna see." Lily said.


	15. Chapter 15

It was the day before Christmas and Lily was alone in the motel- Sam and Dean had gone out for a few drinks and had given her strict instructions to stay put. Of course, Lily had no intentions of doing so.

Christmas was tomorrow and she didn't have a present for either Dean or Sam. She didn't have any money, but that didn't matter to her much- she knew how to shoplift even if she didn't like it.

Like the time Logan was five and had really wanted a toy for his birthday, but their mom had spent the last of the money on booze. She could see the hopeful look in Logan's eyes when he woke up and it just broke Lily.

And then there had been a few times when her mom had been out of work and there hadn't been food or money.

Lily nervously opened the front door- she knew that if she was caught out of the motel, she'd be in big trouble. But she **needed** to do this.

K-Mart was open and crowded with people doing last minute shopping; all the better because then no one would notice Lily as she walked through the aisles.

Picking something out would be hard. She'd lived with them for a few months now but still felt like she didn't know them.

Lily thoughtfully picked up a beaded bracelet with skulls on it. It seemed like something Dean would wear, but she wasn't sure. The only jewelry he had was a ring and a necklace. The more she thought about it, the more she figured he'd like it. Shaking her head, she went to put it back, but quickly slid it down her sleeve and walked away.

Now, Sam. He liked to read but she wasn't sure in his taste of books. She skimmed the aisles, but decided against it. Lily thoughtfully walked down an aisle that had belts and grabbed a dark brown leather one.

She casually took the tags off and slid the belt around her waist. She felt nervous, like she usually did, but she didn't run towards the door. Instead, she walked slowly, mingling in the crowd of people. Lily waited until a woman with about six kids walked through and followed closely behind her.

The alarm didn't go off and with a rave of relief; Lily made the quick trip back to the motel. She was relieved that neither Sam nor Dean were waiting for her.

But now she was faced with the task of wrapping it. She couldn't very well give them a present that wasn't wrapped.

Lily walked down the hall and to the main desk.

"Do you have any newspaper and tape?" Lily asked the middle aged woman at the desk.

"Sure, why?" She asked.

"I need to wrap a Christmas present." Lily said.

"You know, I think I may have some old wrapping paper. Let me check." She said, smiling as she got up, returning a few minutes later with two pieces of snowman wrapping paper. "Here you go, honey. Who's the gift for?"

"My Dad and Uncle." Lily said, feeling awkward for a moment.

"Well, Merry Christmas." She said, handing her some tape.

"You too." Lily said, nodding as she walked back to her room. She had just enough time to wrap and hide the presents under the bed before they came back.

When the brothers finally returned, they had with them the most pathetic tree Lily had ever seen. It was probably two feet tall in a pot and was missing a chunk of it- but because of the way Dean proudly held it, she had to smile.

"I like it." Lily said, nodding.

"We got some stuff to decorate it with, too." Sam said, holding up a bag.

They spent twenty minutes perfecting the tree- or well, Sam and Lily did. Dean laid on the bed drinking a beer and commenting every so often on their placements.

"Thanks, guys." Lily said, nodding at the tree.

"No problem." Dean replied. "Now you better get to sleep before Santa comes."

"Dean, I know Santa's not real." Lily commented, but she headed into the bathroom to change anyway.

Lily fell asleep fairly easy, hoping she wouldn't have a nightmare that night and Christmas would be good.

Sam and Dean waited until they were sure Lily was asleep before going to the Impala and grabbing the wrapped presents. There were a total of eight in all and by far, more than she usually got.

Thankfully, Lily didn't have a nightmare and slept until a quarter to ten. When she saw the presents the next morning, she started to cry a little. It was so…thoughtful. No one had ever cared that much for her, she was sure.

"Wake up, guys." Lily said, dancing around the presents. "Come on, wake up."

"What? Why?" Dean asked, faking confusion.

"I want to open my presents!" Lily said smiling broadly.

"Presents? I thought you said Santa wasn't real."

Lily rolled her eyes and waited until both Sam and Dean were up to take her first present. She made a big show of shaking it before ripping the colored paper off.

"A sketch pad, thanks. I've really wanted to draw, and look, this is the good stuff too- nice and thick."

"That one's from me." Sam said, rubbing his eyes.

"Thanks, Sammy." Lily said, moving on to the next present which was from Dean. It was a set of expensive drawing pencils and colored pencils.

Next came a silver necklace with a diamond heart stone and matching earrings. She had never had any jewelry and insisted that Dean put it on her right then.

Next came an outfit, a pair of black jeans, an ACDC concert t-shirt and a pair of leather boots. Lily was grateful- they hadn't been able to salvage much from the house and she'd been wearing about the same four outfits' since then.

"How'd you know I wanted boots like that, Dean?" Lily asked.

"It's a talent." Dean said, shrugging as he smirked.

Next came a leather jacket with a hood- Lily pulled it on. "Thanks."

"You don't have to say thank-you after every present, Lil; just a blanket thank-you will suffice." Sam said.

"Sorry, it's just, I'm not use to Christmas presents, that's all."

Dean frowned a little at the comment but Lily didn't notice- she was down to two presents.

Opening it she found a pale blue long sleeve dress. Confused, she opened the other box and found black flats. "I don't get it. It's a nice dress and all, but where will I wear it?" Lily asked.

"We're going out to dinner." Dean said, smiling proudly.

Lily couldn't help but smile as she got up and gave both of them a hug.

"Thanks, guys, this means a lot." Lily said, before going to the bed and pulling out her presents. "For you and you."

Confused they opened the presents, surprise filling their faces.

"How'd you get these, Lily?" Dean asked. "And when?"

Lily shrugged, walking over to the couch and laying down.

"Lily…how did you pay for these?" Dean asked.

Lily smiled and casually waved her fingers in the air.

"You stole them?" Sam asked.

"You act like this a huge deal. I know you guys hustle pool and do credit card scams. Besides, it's not my first time."

"If you need something, Lily, just ask. We can't afford for you to get caught and sent away." Sam said.

"I'll forget this time that you left the motel room, but don't do it again. There are things out there that will hurt you, Lil. You should know that."

"I was careful, okay? But I had to get you something."

"Then you ask one of us to go with you." Dean said.

"But if I had asked Sam to go with me, then he would have known I was getting something for him. And I'd have to ask you, so then you'd know as well. This was the only way."

"Just talk to us first next time, okay?" Dean said, standing up. "I like it though, thank you."

"Yeah, Lily, thanks." Sam said.

Dean left and came back with breakfast. They spent most of the day watching TV and eating donuts, until around three came along and Dean said it was probably time to get ready.

After a quick shower, Lily changed into the dress and came out of the bathroom. Then Sam went it for his shower, returning in a simple black suit he referred to as his "Fed Suit" and Dean did the same.

Lily was putting her hair halfway up when Dean came out.

"We're a pretty good lookin' group." Lily commented as they got into the Impala.

The dinner was wonderful and so was the food. It was so nice- usually Christmas dinner was turkey sandwiches from a gas station.

Afterwards, Lily sat on the couch, flipping through the channels. But her mind wasn't there. It was on Logan. She wished so much that he could have been here- he would have liked Dean and Sam.

Lily didn't even realize she was crying until Sam sat down beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"I miss my brother…" Lily said, wiping her eyes. "Does it get easier, Sam? I mean, Jessica died a while ago, but does it get better?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "Honestly, it's still hard every day but it isn't like before. I'm not as crippled as before, but it still hurts."

"Sammy…I dreamt about Logan's death before it happened. I heard what Mary said to you. Was it my fault he died?"

"No, you had no idea it was real."

Lily nodded and laid back against the bed, before falling asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Lily sat in the outdoor coffee shop beside Dean, sipping on her cup of hot chocolate. She alternated between watching Dean search for a hunt on the computer and watching Sam talk on the phone, along with just plain people watching. It was the middle of March and fairly cold out –but the sun was shining and there wasn't much of a breeze, so it was nice.

"Your half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting' cold over here, Francis." Dean called.

"Bite me." Sam replied.

"So anything?"

"I had 'em check the FBI Missing Persons Data Bank and there were no John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even went so far as to have them check for traffic violations. Nothing."

"I don't think Dad wants to be found, Sammy." Dean said. "But check this out, I think I got a hunt. Only 'bout a hundred miles from here."

"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road.'" Sam read.

"Keep goin'." Dean urged.

"'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'"

"Could be somethin' interesting." Dean said, shrugging. "Dad would check it out."

Sam agreed and they drove to Ankeny, Iowa. Once they got there, Dean dropped Lily off at a park because they were going to a frat house and having an eleven-year-old girl along with them wouldn't exactly help their cover.

It was a Sunday morning, so there were a few kids around the park. Lily was able to be a kid for a few hours and played basketball with a group of kids her age. Since she'd been training with Dean a lot, she'd gotten into pretty good physical shape and made a few shots.

But when she saw a seven-year-old boy with the same dark hair as Logan, she had to stop herself from going over and hugging him; it brought back so many memories. More times than she could remember, she'd taken Logan to the local park – she'd send him off with some of the younger kids while she and a group of friends went behind the school to smoke – but he'd always sneak his way back to them.

Once in a while, Lily would steal some money from her Mom's purse and they would stop at a little pizza shop that sold slices for a dollar and pops for fifty cents.

Thankfully Dean and Sam picked her up a few minutes later before she could go over to the boy.

"Where we going?" Lily asked.

"Church." Dean said.

"No seriously, where we going?" Lily asked, chuckling.

"Seriously, we're going to Church." Dean said, pulling into a Church parking lot.

"I'll stay in the car." Lily said, pulling out a book.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Dean said.

"I said I'll stay in the car." Lily repeated.

Dean gestured for Sam to go ahead and turned around to face Lily. "Why don't you wanna go in?"

"I think religion is a joke. God doesn't exist and it's pointless to go in there and hear someone preach about Him."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if God existed He wouldn't have let my brother die." Lily snapped.

"This is a hunt, Lily, we do what we gotta do regardless of how we feel about it." Dean said.

"Do you believe in God?" Lily asked.

"No. But I think Sam does." Dean said.

Lily sighed and climbed out of the Impala. "I don't want to go to the park anymore." Lily commented as they walked over to where Sam was waiting.

"Why?"

"I saw a kid that looked like Logan. I'd rather not go again."

"Okay." Dean said, nodding.

They walked into the Church, the door slamming behind them and causing everyone to turn around to look at them as they found a pew at the back.

Lily did attempt to listen, but her mind wandered – not thinking about anything in particular. Dean had to nudge her to bow her head for prayer.

Afterwards, Lily went straight to the Impala while Sam talked to Lori, the eyewitness, and Dean talked to her Dad, the reverend.

They went to the library in search of information, only coming up with the Hook Man legend; it fit fairly well- the guy suspended above the car; the hook; the invisible man.

Later that night they drove to 9 Mile Road – Dean pulled a rifle from the trunk and handed it to Sam.

"If it's a spirit, buckshot won't do much good."

"Yeah, that's why it's filled with rounds of rock salt." Dean said, smirking.

"Huh…salt being a spirit deterrent…"

"It won't kill 'em, but it'll slow 'em down." Dean finished.

"That's pretty good…you and dad think of this?"

"I told you," Dean said. "You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." Dean said as they started into the woods. Lily was careful to remain out of there way.

A sudden noise sent them all looking into the woods.

"Over there. Over there." Dean whispered and Sam aimed the gun, a figure appearing from the trees- the sheriff.

"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head."

Dean shot Lily a look and she slid into the shadows of the trees. "W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean said.

Lily watched as Dean and Sam were handcuffed – a bit of fear running through her as she watched them be pulled away. Shoving her hand into her pocket, she grabbed the matchbook from the motel and set it on the hood before beginning the long walk back to the motel.

The next morning Dean woke her up.

"Good thinking leaving the matchbook." Dean said, tossing it back to Lily who had taken to collecting the matchboxes of all the motels they stayed at. "Get dressed.

"Where we going? Breakfast? I'm starving."

"Later – there was another murder." Dean said.

"Where? Who?"

"Lori's roommate." Sam said, sadly.

They snuck into the sorority house through a closet window – the body was gone but the blood was there. On the wall written in blood were the words "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" and the cross symbol they'd seen in there research.

With a little more research, they found out similar killings done by clergymen. They also figured out that it was Karns spirit latching onto reverends and their repressed emotions, killing those they felt were immoral.

Sam agreed to watch Lori's house in case the spirit showed up while Lily and Dean salted and burned the body.

"I turn twelve in a few weeks." Lily commented idly as they drove.

"I knew that." Dean said, happily.

"It's gonna be weird. Mom and I would always go see a movie, just the two of us. She'd be sober and it was nice."

"We can see a movie if you want." Dean said. "Or do something different."

"I think a movie would be nice. So much has changed…so many things that I use to do. I've been responsible for Logan since I was four-years-old and now it's like – I'm not. I move around and used to live in the same house my whole life and I have a Dad and I've never had that before. I lost a lot of stuff."

"Maybe that can be something you hold onto." Dean said.

"Yeah." Lily said, smiling a little. "I'm glad you showed up Dean. I mean, it led to a lot of bad stuff but I wouldn't have known you if you hadn't showed up."

Dean smiled, a little embarrassed.

Burning the bones was an odd experience – the smell was something that Lily was sure never to forget- but seeing the bones wasn't really scary…as long as she thought of them as fake.

When they picked up Sam though, they realized that the spirit hadn't disappeared – he'd attacked the Rev.

"I don't get it." Sam said, the next morning over breakfast. "You burned the bones."

"Maybe the spirit latched onto Lori." Lily said, eating her third donut. "You know, the hook wasn't there. Isn't that like part of him?"

They quickly did some research and found out it was melted down and made into objects for the church. In a frenzy, they gathered all the silver from the church and even Lori's house and tossed it into the furnace.

When they found the hook man attacking Lori, they quickly came to her rescue.

Lily stood beside Lori as Sam and Dean surrounded them. Looking up at her, Lily saw a silver necklace hanging from her neck. "Where'd you get that?" Lily asked.

"What? I don't know, it belonged to the church." Lori said.

"Take it off…take it off!" Lily quickly ordered.

Lily tossed the necklace to Dean who raced to the basement to throw it into the furnace.

Lily leaned against the Impala while Dean talked to the police – it felt nice to finish a hunt. She'd helped save people – Lori could live a normal life now. It didn't exactly make up for Logan and her Mom, but it helped.


End file.
